Piercing Slingshot Ammo-a simple easy trick

EDIT:Hmm YT embed not working,so I pasted the links in full...
A lot of folks on this board are probably familiar with the "slingbow"-an easy mod to allow slingshots to shot arrows.
Here is a video by the guy who made the mods,explaining how to do it,if you are unfamiliar with the concept:



www.youtube.com...

But here is another simple yet effective trick to make badass ammo for your slingshot,which requires no modding of the slingshot itself.
Its very easy,and it works well-I have just tried it this morning,with great results.

All you need is a commercial/home made arrow head and a small wad of cotton wool,and some thread:



www.youtube.com...

The only downside is that unless you are consistently hitting the target,you may lose alot of potentially reusuable ammo.
A simple trick though,possibly inspired by blowdart ammo.

reply to post by mytheroy

Cheers-
Yeah,they won't embedd for some reason,so I added the links which do work,at least they do for me.

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


the second one is being goofy lol

I'll have fun with this.

This looks like a useful source of information.

reply to post by Kester


Cheers!you got it to embed,nice1.

Yep,its great fun,and you can see where your shots hit easier than with regular ammo-but I should have mentioned in the OP,I would reccomend a hand protector/thick glove for the hand holding the slingshot-that way a miss-aim will not result in you getting an arrowhead lodged in your hand.

That is a catapult, not a slingshot, a slingshot is two lengths of twine joined at one end by a 'cup' to hold the ammunition, usually a round or shaped stone. the other end of the twine's are held in one hand, one end of twine in a loop around the thumb, the other twine end held in the fingers and palm, the loaded end is twirled around one's head until its up to speed, then released, at a speed than can kill a man if hit on the head, see how David killed Goliath, they did not have rubber bands in those days.

reply to post by pikestaff


Was not the weapon used by David just called a "sling?"
But yeah,you are correct to say catapult-it does however seem the term slingshot is now widely used to describe a catapult.

Either way,this ammo is fun.

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


Good advice. A stone hurts enough, an arrowhead in the hand could be a bit inconvenient.

This video looks good.


Theraband Gold can be bought online. I've had problems with it breaking. I'll have to experiment with lengths and widths.

Last video, I promise.



These lead balls are lethal. Practice with these and you have a serious hunting tool.

Interesting video of the penetrating ammo.

I shoot 12mm lead and 9.5mm steel ammo, and it will suffice to say that when this ammo hits its target it will do serious damage. The 12mm lead will kill very easily unless you shooting at an ox. The 9.5mm steel will go straight through a rabbit if you're at a close enough range.

My concerns with ammo like the one shown in the video is of safety. Frequently shooters hit their forks or hands with ammo, and it's bad enough to do that with spherical shot, but an arrow head would probably tear a large piece of your hand off altogether. Also a fork hit can result in the ammo coming back at you, or at the least damaging your slingshot. So be careful when/if you're gonna try this folks, and don't forget to wear eye protection.

Searching ebay for arrowheads I came across whistling arrowheads. There must be an easy way to produce cheap whistling catapult/slingshot ammo. I can't easily think of a practical application. Bird scaring perhaps?

Originally posted by Silcone Synapse
reply to post by Kester

 

Cheers!you got it to embed,nice1.

Yep,its great fun,and you can see where your shots hit easier than with regular ammo-but I should have mentioned in the OP,I would reccomend a hand protector/thick glove for the hand holding the slingshot-that way a miss-aim will not result in you getting an arrowhead lodged in your hand.

Don't know if you already tried this, but when you want to embed a YT vid, enter only the numbers of the vid in the embed YT window i.e.:

www. youtube.com/watch?v=f4qD0n4-spA&feature

Only those bold numbers

Didn't know if you already tried that or not, here's the actual HOW TO link

Cheers!

Originally posted by Kester

I'll have fun with this.

yeah, i'd have fun shooting a box with a potentially lethal projectile from 7 meters away too

Originally posted by Kester
Searching ebay for arrowheads I came across whistling arrowheads. There must be an easy way to produce cheap whistling catapult/slingshot ammo. I can't easily think of a practical application. Bird scaring perhaps?

I have a couple of whistling arrowheads-they are good fun,but expensive.
To get the most outta them you need a powerful bow,although I have made some by attaching a couple of small kids whistles(facing forward) to a regular arrow,which work very well-louder than the ones I bought.

Cheers for the vids-Wildernessoutfitters is one of my favourite YT channels.

Originally posted by repeatoffender

yeah, i'd have fun shooting a box with a potentially lethal projectile from 7 meters away too

That's just the recommended minimum distance-It works for bigger distances better,as the projectile has time to level out in the air.I tried approx 20 metres this morning,admitedly at a rather big(door sized)target,but then my aim is better with a bow,which is what I am more familiar with.

This is very cool piece of easy to make weaponry, I have alot of sling shots. I think ill try and make one of these SlingBows. Ive got a Whisker Arrow holder, some compound bow arrows, and the broad tips. What an easy way to make an excellent weapon, that doesnt require much work, and is fairly safe using the whisker method, so the arrow doesnt go off target, or hit the edge of the sling shot, and mess your hand up. Bravo on whoever thought this up. Now its time to test this bad boy. S & F for a good piece of Info.

Originally posted by Kester
Last video, I promise.

These lead balls are lethal. Practice with these and you have a serious hunting tool.

I cast my own too, you can get molds for fishing weights on ebay very cheaply, the one I have casts 8 x 12mm balls at a time and only cost somewhere around 15 dollars.

Transiting from steel ammo to lead was an eye opener for me. When you propel lead to a high velocity it does not want to stop. I hit a fence post from 30 meters, with double theraband gold bands on my slingshot, the lead shot penetrated nearly an inch into the wood then fell out, when I found the ball it was flattened on one side. This would probably kill an adult if you hit them square in the chest, and 30 meters is a good range for a slingshot.

When you shoot lead it becomes very obvious why they used this metal with the early ballistic weapons.

reply to post by seabhac-rua


The area I live in was heavily populated in the distant past. There are numerous hill forts. Sling stones are fairly easy to find after the land has been ploughed within one of the local forts. There are three main types. Small white stones which I expect the children practised with. Stones a little smaller than a golf ball which I guess are hunting ammo. There would have been plenty of waterfowl here then. The largest are small apple sized. They look scary. I suspect they may have been lobbed over the battlements to rain down on invaders. If the tribes had theraband gold and lead balls they could have defeated the Romans.

Originally posted by Kester
reply to post by seabhac-rua

 

The area I live in was heavily populated in the distant past. There are numerous hill forts. Sling stones are fairly easy to find after the land has been ploughed within one of the local forts. There are three main types. Small white stones which I expect the children practised with. Stones a little smaller than a golf ball which I guess are hunting ammo. There would have been plenty of waterfowl here then. The largest are small apple sized. They look scary. I suspect they may have been lobbed over the battlements to rain down on invaders. If the tribes had theraband gold and lead balls they could have defeated the Romans.

Hah yeah, them pesky Romans!

I take it you're in the UK then? This is very interesting about the abundance of slingstones found in the ruins of the hill forts, I had no idea how widespread the use of slings was in bronze and Iron age Britain and Europe, I may do a little research into the subject.

I've been shooting looped tubes a lot lately, that's mostly due to me having recently acquired an SPS by Performance Catapults, these are absolutely awesome: